Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 99.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 107,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,802 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Humana were worth $27,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Humana by 2.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,852,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Humana by 61.6% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Humana by 15.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,737 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Humana by 180.7% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 5,741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 3,696 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Humana by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Stock Up 1.2 %

HUM stock opened at $285.30 on Thursday. Humana Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $406.46. The company has a market cap of $34.43 billion, a PE ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 11.70%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HUM shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Humana from $305.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $283.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.25.

Humana Company Profile

Humana Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides medical and specialty insurance products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Insurance and CenterWell. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits.